THANK YOU!

YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS

Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register (available in paperback) with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. 375 pages with black & white photographs and extensive tables

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The Congress of Ghosts (available as Kindle Edition eBook) is an anniversary celebration for 2010.  It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.

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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register, 1925-1936 (available in paperback) at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Art Goebel's Own Story (available as free PDF download) by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion.  Available as a free download at the link.

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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race (available as Kindle Edition eBook) is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Clover Field: The first Century of Aviation in the Golden State (available in paperback & Kindle Edition) With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great. 281 pages, black & white photographs.

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DAVIS D-1-K NC158Y

This airplane is a Davis model D-1-K, S/N 508. It was manufactured in 1930 by the Davis Aircraft Corporation at Richmond, IN. Walter C. Davis, the president of the company, enjoyed flying and demonstrating his products. He appeared in the Parks Airport Register on Sunday, March 8, 1931 at the link.

NC158Y appeared twice in the Register, with some conjecture around the second landing (see below). According to aerofiles.com, the D-1-K cost between $4,185 and $2,295, decreasing bit by bit as the Great Depression deepened. NC158Y was a two-place, open cockpit, high-wing, parasol monoplane powered by a 100HP Kinner K-5 engine. As such, it was the cheapest Kinner-powered airplane available.

The empty weight was 925 pounds. It had a useful load of 536 pounds and a range of 410 miles. This weight-to-power combination led Juptner to remark (v.3, p. 206), "...the pure flying pleasure built into and contained in this sport airplane was usually translated into an exhuberance that was a joy to experience or even to watch." According to Juptner, eleven examples were built, at least one of which, NC158Y, is still flying today (see below).

Below is a vintage photograph of NC158Y courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum (SDAM). The date and location were unidentified.

Davis NC158Y, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)
Davis NC158Y, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)

The good news about this airplane is that it is still with us. It has been restored and is flying (airworthiness certificate current to 2019). It is presently owned by a gentleman in Pennsylvania and is on flying exhibit at the Western Antique Airplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, OR. A contemporary photograph, courtesy of site visitor Nick Hurm, is below. At the link you'll learn that its Kinner K-5, 100HP engine is the oldest still flying. Visible differences between these two photographs include a different propeller, a tail wheel vs. a tail skid, fabric-covered landing gear struts and the Davis logo decal on the vertical stabilizer. Mr. Hurm listed 13 examples of the D-1-K model in an email to me.

Davis NC158Y, Oregon (Source: Hurm)

The registration number NC158Y appears twice in the Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT) Register. Tower Operator A.J. Lygum logged it first on Sunday, December 21, 1930 at 9:50AM. The unidentified pilot was solo. Lygum noted that the airplane was owned by the "Davis Aero Corporation."

General-Western P-2 Meteor (Source: aerofiles.com)

 

The second appearance of the registration number in the Register was Sunday, March 22, 1931. There is conjecture that it was the Davis. Interestingly, the tower Operator identified it as a "Meteor" in the Register. The owner of the airplane this time was identified as the "General Western Aeronautical Corporation."

The Meteor was a brand of airplane produced by General-Western near that time. It had a similar profile, left, to the Davis, so it could have been misidentified as a Meteor at a distance and assumed to belong to General Western. Given that the Operator identified the registration number as NC158Y suggests he could read the number, but just misidentified the aircraft brand.

Regardless, again the solo pilot was not identified. NC158Y remained on the ground a short while, departing at 9:03 the same morning. At neither landing, whether misidentified or not, was a homebase, destination or purpose given for the flight.

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